Tracy's Day: 2008

Susie and I at the Flamingo Hotel with Donny and Marie Osmond!

Before the concert, we stood by this poster as we had no intention of actually meeting them afterwards!

The view from our hotel room, little did we know we would never even end up sleeping in here. You couldn't even see the Las Vegas lights. They should have paid us to stay there!

The following is a detailed account of what actually happened while in Vegas because my friend Susie needed to know. Read on, and then it will all make sense.

I woke up at 3:30 AM on Saturday morning, November 15th, to catch flight to Phx to meet Susie, whom I've known since 5th grade. Met Susie, caught plane to Las Vegas together.

We had an incredible buffet at the Bellagio. The meal was $25.00 and I think we were there almost 3 hours. We were determined to get our money’s worth and by golly I think we did. I ate in shifts! This was a great catch-up time for us, lots of laughs.

Back to the hotel to get dressed for the show! We arrived and had wonderful seats, very close to the stage, great close-ups of Donny and Marie. The show was incredible, they are so talented and it was so much fun to hear them banter with each other. Marie pulled a gentleman out of the audience, and embarrassed him to death. We sat with 4 other women from Georgia. Susie and I were amazed that Marie could dance, leave alone walk down stairs in her stiletto heels! For a 50 year old grandpa, Donny can certainly move like the young ones. The two of them really interact with the audience too! I would definitely see them again! The show lasted 2 hours.

Afterwards, we were walking aimlessly thru the casino and stumbled (I swear we did!) onto the Meet and Greet. I told Susie we should get in line. After all, we have nothing to lose! Mind you, we didn't have the VIP badges, but what the heck! So there we waited....on several occasions Susie said, you know "this is no big deal to me, I don't need to meet them", but I pressed on. Again, we had nothing to lose. As I work in the entertainment industry, meeting celebrities is no big deal for me either, but I was determined to get Susie to meet Donny and Marie!! A few minutes before we would have met them, "Tall Lady" as we affectionately named her informed us that we couldn't meet them without passes. But that didn't stop us. I said, would you mind if we just stood here in the background and observed? I promise we won't get in the way, we'll just watch. She wasn't really happy about my request, but also really couldn't stop us from using our eyeballs to watch. So we waited about 15 more minutes. "Tall Lady" headed in my direction and then said (but I already knew what was coming) "Since you were so polite, patient and ASKED to see them and didn't make a scene, you can come in" I waved Susie over and she just stared....Really??? Yes, now get over here. She came up sheepishly with her ticket for them to sign. We were the last 2 people they saw and posed with that night. Donny and Marie were incredibly polite. I have met Donny on several occasions, and I said it was nice to see him again. Susan stood silently while we posed for our photos. Never spoke a word to Donny. Does deer in the headlights ring a bell? I think she was paralyzed! They were in a hurry to leave and as Marie was ducking back stage, Susie found her voice and yells out, "I'm a Mormon Grandmother from Mesa Arizona" to which Marie replies, "that's wonderful....I'm not a Grandmother yet".

As we were walking back to our hotel room, Susie says, "you know how I said that it wasn't a big deal to meet them.......................well, IT WAS A REALLY BIG DEAL TO MEET THEM!" (she was star struck, and believe me I know star struck when I see it!) We had to wait for our photos, but it was well worth it. We then headed back to our room, but stopped for french fries, a grilled cheese and gelato ice cream. (Now I know I am giving you lots of details, but this is for Susie's sake) I think it was about 12:30 a.m. when we got to the room and finally got into bed. Susie was wearing Mary Englebright pj's (this is an important detail) when she climbed into her bed. She said she wasn't really tired....(too excited to sleep) and asked if she could read a book. I said "no problem" and rolled away from the light. That was the last "normal" moment we had.

It didn't seem that I had been asleep that long when I was awakened by someone coughing. I got up to find Susie in the bathroom. I asked if she was ok and she said she felt like she was going to be sick, and not to worry. I went to lay down again for a few minutes. I get up again and offer her 7-up. She declines, says don't worry, go back to bed, I'll be fine. After a couple more trips of checking on her in the bathroom, I finally insist that she get out of there and lay down. She refuses. I notice her breathing is very labored. I drag up a chair to the bathroom door and insist she sit down as she appeared disoriented and couldn't keep her balance. It is then she begins to talk about being confused, and that she had dreams about Donny and Marie on a train........ and she can't differentiate dreams from reality.

This is the following conversation, verbatim, repeated about 30 times in a row.....

"what time is it?" "where's Dave" "where am I" and my all time favorite....."I am Mormon, I do not drink"

Now mind you, the first 25 times, I answered each question, trying to calm her down.

Her next comment, " I think someone slipped me something"....."tracy, do you think someone slipped me something?" and then she went back to the dialogue above. By now, I know something is terribly wrong. I grab my cell phone and call Dave (her husband) at 4:30 AM and let him know she is not feeling well and I need to call 911, but I need some medical history.
I honestly thought she was a) diabetic, going into shock, b) epileptic, beginning a seizure, c) having a panic attack, d) having a stroke, or e) an incredibly good actress pulling one over on me! Dave says she has no medical issues or is on medication. I put the phone to her ear and Dave spoke to her. I think at that moment, he too, realized something was terribly wrong and he informed me he was getting in the car to drive to Vegas. There was no way she could have taken a plane home in that condition!

Suddenly as I am calling 911, I realize Susie is not in the PJ's she went to bed in, but a nightgown!! when did that happen? I am trying to tell the hotel security, that my friend is "dazed and confused" and they want to know how much we have had to drink!!!!! NOTHING................I SCREAM. WE JUST GOT BACK FROM DONNY AND MARIE AND SHE "to quote Susie" is MORMON AND DOES NOT DRINK. (I swear I am going to have a t-shirt made for her with that saying!!)

Within seconds it seemed, 2 EMT's appear. They begin their assessment. Of course, Susie is yelling, I AM MORMON, I DO NOT DRINK, which only makes her look like she did and then they are grilling me about what drugs we may have taken......By this time, I am worried sick about my friend, who won't stop repeating herself and I am SWEARING on a stack of bibles, that we just went to Donny and Marie and neither one of us drink or do drugs. (I'm sure they have heard that one before!!) They quickly decide we have to get her to the hospital, as it is definitely a neurological thing......so I grab her black pants and me and the female EMT start to dress her. Then she yells, NO, NOT MY BLACK DRESS PANTS, GET MY JEANS......like I had time to find them...........she's going to the hospital, not the prom, who cares what she is wearing?? She DID in that moment. Next I realized she has her "garments" on....(forgive me, I am not LDS, so I've only heard her refer to these, but I know they are special to her, so I told the EMT to leave them on. Suddenly, Susie yells, "GET MY BRA", and I find it and she puts it on over the top of the garments and begins to get in the wheelchair dressed just like that. I grabbed a sweater and put that on her........just in case the fashion police were out.....) They put her in a wheel chair and I grab 2 purses, and off we go to the hospital..........me in my pj's.............thru the hotel lobby to get us to a taxi. They said we could go in an ambulance for $$$$$$$ or take a taxi for $ and we would get there in the same amount of time. Poor Dave is calling every few minutes for an update and I am now in my pj's at 4:45 AM in a taxi in Las Vegas with my friend, saying "what time is it, where are we, why are we in a taxi??

We arrive at the hospital and I realize I have no money for the taxi driver. He was a gem and helped Susie out of the cab. I have now found some crumbled up money in the bottom of my purse to pay him. I am sure he thought we were homeless. I only wish I had taken a picture of our outfits.

Once inside, Susie is fixated on the clock in the ER and she begins a new rant ......IT'S SIX O'CLOCK, IS IT MORNING OR NIGHT? WHY ARE WE HERE????WHY ARE YOU WEARING YOUR PJS'? Now replay that about 27 times. I try to explain to her that she has had memory loss and is being checked out. On not one, not ten occasions, she yells out to me.......I BET YOU DIDN'T SIGN UP FOR THIS..............I have now been up for 27 hours and it is showing..................I am holding her hand and a throw up bucket for her. Now we revert back to ....I AM MORMON, I DON'T DRINK.......with everyone in the ER just staring.......they then come in to take her for the CT SCAN, to which she tells the nurse....I AM SMART, YOU WON'T FIND ANYTHING WRONG WITH ME..........and begins to giggle. I am trying to pull myself together, I don't know whether to laugh or cry. She returns from the scan, and they take blood......I am sure they couldn't wait to get that tox screen back to find all the alcohol and drugs THAT WE DIDN'T TAKE.............so there we are for the next 3 hours, her on a gurney (now medicated) and me by her side with the following being said in this order........WHERE ARE WE, WHERE'S DAVE, WHAT TIME IS IT.......at least 50 times if not more.....ask the nurses, they'll back me up...........and finally I can't tell her one more time........so I grab a piece of 8 x 11 inch paper.........and I write the answers.

Number 1 - "We flew here from Phoenix together, we are in Las Vegas staying at the Flamingo Hotel"

Number 2 - "Dave is on his way from PHX to LAS VEGAS to pick you up"

Number 3 - "We went to Donny and Marie and we had our picture taken with them"

Everytime she'd ask me the question, I'd point to the paper, and then she would read the appropriate answer out loud. (ask her, she has the paper to this day)

Then Susie asked me WHAT DAY IS IT? I said Sunday, and she said, Oh NO, I NEED TO BE IN CHURCH. I DIDN'T GET ANYONE TO DO THE ROLLS. I assured her she was on vacation and that someone was doing the rolls. P.S. What are the rolls???

When I asked her where she thought she was, she kept saying TUCSON. She said that for about 2 hours. By the 3rd hour, she finally said Vegas. (the medication was working now) She kept wanting to know why Dave wasn't with us. Dave called almost hourly for an update while driving. I finally snuck away, grabbed a coffee and some toast and had a good cry in the cafeteria. As I headed back to Susie, I stepped outside and said a prayer for my friend. When I returned to her, the doctor came in and said it wasn't a stroke, but "disassociative amnesia". Are you kidding me?????

Once we had a diagnosis and the doctor knew her husband was picking her up, we were discharged. Back to the taxi, back to our hotel room where we both dropped on our beds and I called the front desk and asked for a check-out extension......they gave us an hour...........and I swear they could have moved the hotel and neither one of us would have felt it. Dave arrived a half hour later and I had to run to catch my plane. He drove Susie back to Phx and I flew to California. I have now been up 37 hours......and I am now dazed and confused. I am sure you are saying is this for real? believe me I couldn't have made this up if I tried. Susie is continually remembering bits and pieces, thank goodness. Friends to the end! I love you my friend!

This is a HUGE 4 day event. It's like a Country Music Woodstock. Every country band you can think of is here. David got VIP tickets for us to see SUGARLAND, one of my favorite groups!
Here's Jennifer Nettles.

This event was attended by over 70,000 fans. There were people as far as the eye can see.

We tried to pretend that the rain wasn't coming, but it did and how. During Kenny Chesney's performance, the sky opened up with a thunder and lightning storm that made 70,000 run and take cover. Many just left their lawn chairs there and ran to their cars. It took us over 2 hours to get out of the parking lot. Watching people try to find their cars in the rain while intoxicated was quite entertaining.